1. Field of Invention
This present invention relates to hand-held tools, specifically to a hand-held reciprocating attachment for power rotary tools.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Power-driven hand-held rotary tools and reciprocating tools are known to exist in prior art. Such tools currently available exhibit problems in regards to delicate, detail work.
Rotary tools rotate tool attachments, such as ball grinders, sanding discs and drums, and cutting wheels, at a variable RPM up to very high RPM. Although such rotary tools are very useful in numerous applications they do have limitations. When trying to perform detailed shaping or precise removal of material from a work piece with a hand-held rotating tool, a ball grinder, sanding disc or drum, or cutting wheel attachment can grab a material and cause a tool to be pulled in an unwanted direction thereby blemishing or even destroying a work piece. For one example of a professional application, this potentially damaging scenario is a real concern when modifying or repairing very expensive electronic printed circuit board assemblies. It is common practice to use either a manual razor knife or a rotary tool with a small cutting ball to sever small clad runs on electronic printed circuit boards where a connection needs to be broken. When the operator loses control of a rotary cutting tool due to grabbing numerous unwanted clad traces can be severed, sometimes in an un-repairable area of the board, resulting in hundreds or thousands of dollars in wasted inventory. Also, using a manual hobby razor knife in such as application requires quite a bit of force that can promote slipping and loss of control. Cutting with a rotary tool is limited to the use of a spinning, abrasive cutting wheel, and gaining access to a desired area of a work piece at a desired cutting angle is sometimes impossible to achieve. This is because rotary cutting tools have a limitation in that some of the parts comprising the drive mechanism of the cutting wheel are either above, below, to the right, or to the left of the plane of the cutting wheel depending on orientation. Carving with a hand-held rotary tool requires the use of a spinning, course-cutting attachment that, too, can catch on a material, cause a tool to be pulled in an unwanted direction, and cause damage to a work piece. Sawing with a hand-held rotary tool is limited to the use of a spinning, abrasive cutting wheel, or a round saw with teeth, and gaining access to a desired area of a work piece at a desired cutting angle is sometimes impossible to achieve. Also, the depth of cut realized with a cutting wheel or round saw is limited to slightly less than its radius. Chiseling with a hand-held rotary tool using only rotating motion is potentially dangerous because it requires a rotating bit containing cutting blades that is difficult to control and certainly not suited for fine, detail work. Filing with a hand-held rotary tool is limited to a use of a spinning, abrasive cutting wheel or a spinning abrasive bit. Gaining access to a desired area of a work piece at a desired angle with an abrasive wheel for filing is sometimes impossible to achieve, and filing with a spinning abrasive bit can cause unwanted variable-depth cuts, or unwanted grooves, in a work surface. Sanding with a hand-held rotary tool requires a spinning sanding disc or a sanding drum attachment that can grab a material, cause a tool to be pulled in an unwanted direction, and either cause damage to or destroy a work piece.
Some available hand-held reciprocating tools are too large and too heavy to hold properly for extreme detail work because they include an AC motor or a DC motor with batteries. Also, they are more dedicated to certain applications, such as just sanding or just carving, and don""t allow for an assortment of tool attachment types. Some do not hold tool attachments firmly enough for extremely fine control of a tool attachment.
Reciprocating carving tools that don""t activate until the cutting edge is pressed against the work piece with a force parallel to the longitudinal axis are not suited for knife blades, saw blades, files, and sanders because such tool attachments require pressure to be applied perpendicular to the tool""s longitudinal axis. Therefore, force-activated tools are typically limited to chisels and gouges and are not suited for delicate work because the required force to active may exceed the mechanical strength of the work piece.
Hammer-type reciprocating tools impart a potentially damaging impulse to delicate work pieces. Also, the impact and spring return mechanisms do not have a high frequency response. They do not allow for a fine degree of force control required for delicate work pieces.
Engravers are reciprocating tools, but they are limited in their ability to provide a variable-speed, variable-length stroke. They also are not suited for the use of other types of cutting tools and are dedicated to engraving only.
A reciprocating hand tool for flexible shafts in U.S. Pat. No. 1,866,529 to Farkas, is provided for general reference. The referenced inclined annular groove will result in large acceleration and deceleration forces between the annular groove and the ball and socket set screw.
A solenoid-powered surgical osteotome in U.S. Pat. No. 2,984,241 to Carlson, is in a different technical field as compared to the invention claimed in this application.
A saber saw attachment in U.S. Pat. No. 3,260,289 to Whitten, claims a saber saw attachment, to the exclusion of other types of cutting tools.
A reciprocating chisel blade power hoe in U.S. Pat. No. 4,452,316 to Edwards, is in a different technical field as compared to the invention claimed in this application.
A reciprocating knife in U.S. Pat. No. 4,644,653 to Bacon, Feb. 24, 1987, claimed a reciprocating knife tool, to the exclusion of other types of tools. Additionally, the invention claimed the use of two opposed elastic members for biasing, which has a limited frequency response, and screws to affix a cutting blade section to a blade, which can loosen due to vibration and which require additional tools for assembly.
A power operated reciprocating hand tool in U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,941 to Fulton, Feb. 24, 1986, claimed a flexible sleeve and utilized a flexible reciprocating cable, coil spring, and mallot that applied a fixed impact force to a cutting tool that limits its applications. Furthermore, a spring""s response limited the attainable reciprocating frequency.
A power tool in U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,592 to Fisher, Aug. 27, 1991, was designed for heavier-duty home project applications such as paint scraper and a wallpaper stripper, as opposed to highly detailed and/or more delicate applications, and claims a sinusoidal cam track and cam follower mechanism with a pair of struts, and intermediate gearing interposed between the drive mechanism and the output shaft. Furthermore, this is in a different technical field as compared to the invention claimed in this application.
A power tool in U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,709 to Fisher, May 7, 1996, was designed for heavier-duty home project applications such as paint scraper and a power spade, as opposed to highly detailed and/or more delicate applications, and claims a sinusoidal cam track and cam follower mechanism with at least two studs, struts, or bosses, and intermediate gearing interposed between the drive mechanism and the output shaft. Furthermore, this is in a different technical field as compared to the invention claimed in this application
The reciprocating attachment for hand drills in U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,265 to Lane, Mar. 4, 1997, is designed to work only with saw blades while being powered by a lower-RPM hand drill. Furthermore, the saw blade is attached with screws that are subject to loosening under vibration and the saw blade mounting method requires that either special, non-standard saw blades be purchased by the consumer or requires that the consumer modify existing saw blades for adequate mounting.
The power drill-saw with simultaneous rotation and reciprocation action in U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,497 to Kim, Oct. 14, 1997, claims a cam key and a cam groove with an elliptical orbit about a cam cylinder. The elliptical orbit will result in large acceleration and deceleration forces between the cam groove and the cam key resulting in excessive wear.
The electric oscillating abrasive file in U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,093 to Rodriguez, Jun. 2, 1998, claimed an electric abrasive file, to the exclusion of other types of tools, and included a U-shaped spring clip to hold a file tool that had limited resistance to applied forces.
A variable angle reciprocating tool in U.S. Pat. No. 5,832,611 to Schmitz, Nov. 10, 1998, claimed a motor housing and motor and is bulky and heavy, which is a negative in regards to fine detail work.
A low vibration motion translation system in U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,346 to Vo, Jan. 11, 2000, claims a low vibration motion translation system but it neither provides a detailed solution for affixing an outside housing, which would thereby make a hand-held device for an end user, nor does it provide detailed solutions for easily affixing various tools to the reciprocating piece.
A motorized reciprocating surgical file apparatus and method in U.S. Pat. No. 6,048,345 to Berke, Apr. 11, 2000, is in a different technical field as compared to the invention claimed in this application.
A miniature impact tool in U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,850 to Phillips, Jul. 11, 2000, is primarily used to impact a cutting tool (chisel) against a work piece. It utilizes a spring in its design and therefore its frequency response is limited. Furthermore, its hammer-type action could impart a potentially damaging impulse to delicate work pieces
A reciprocating apparatus and cam follower for winding a package in U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,973 to Galloway, Sep. 19, 2000, is in a different technical field as compared to the invention claimed in this application. Furthermore, a reciprocating apparatus and cam follower for winding a package claimed a strand guide intended for glass strands.
A variable angle reciprocating tool in U.S. Pat. No. 6,138,364 to Schmitz, Oct. 31, 2000, employed multiple gears and multiple bearings which make the assembly more complex and therefore more prone to mechanical problems.
Powered surgical handpiece assemblies and handpiece adapter assemblies in U.S. Pat. No. 6,368,324 B1 to Dinger et al, Apr. 9, 2002, is in a different technical field as compared to the invention claimed in this application. Furthermore, front housing and rear housing are multiplied piece assemblies as opposed to much simplified one-piece front enclosure and one-piece rear enclosure of the invention claimed in this application. Also, the suction tube is not required for the invention claimed in this application.
No prior art directly germane to this invention was found which anticipates the inventive combination disclosed below. Furthermore, I am very familiar with both the hobby industry and the tool industry and have never seen anything like my hand-held, reciprocating attachment promoted for sale.
A high-speed, hand-held reciprocating method for cutting, carving, sawing, chiseling, filing, sanding, and engraving of the subject invention provides for greatly improved ease in cutting, carving, sawing, chiseling, filing, sanding, and engraving in a multitude of applications. My hand-held, reciprocating attachment allows for more delicate control of a desired operation by reducing the amount of required force applied to a work piece while reciprocating a cutting tool at a high-frequency to minimize the process time. By reducing the required amount of force applied to a work piece, safety of a user is enhanced, fine control over material removal is enhanced, and the chance of damage to a work piece is reduced. A preferred embodiment is described herein but in no way is intended to limit the design details of the subject invention. Applications include, but are not limited to, odd jobs, home repair jobs, arts and crafts, hobby projects, sculpture, electronic printed-circuit board rework, mat cutting for picture frames, and professional model building.
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of my hand-held, reciprocating attachment are that it is compact and easy to hold and manipulate in your hand and fingertips for very precise work. It is held in one""s hand more like a small hobby knife rather than like a more bulky power tool and is therefore very comfortable to use. It is capable of accepting a wide assortment of flat and round cutting tools such as knife blades, saw blades, carving blades, chisels, gouges, round and flat files, and sanding paddles. As an attachment, it converts popular, commercially available, variable-speed rotor tools into even more versatile variable-speed reciprocating tools. One example of such a rotor tool is a DREMEL(copyright) tool and optional flex rotor shaft, manufactured by, and a registered trademark of, DREMEL of Racine, Wisc., which is the subject of the preferred embodiment. My hand-held reciprocating attachment can be altered to conform to other rotor tools. Installation onto an end of a rotating flex cable drive source is quick and easy. No assembly tools are required to assemble my hand-held reciprocating attachment nor to install it onto a flex cable nor to install any of a plurality of cutting tools. It is very user-friendly and allows a user to make quick changes in cutting tools. My hand-held, reciprocating attachment is capable of running at very high reciprocating frequencies, being limited mainly by the rotating drive source. Loss of control of a spinning rotary cutting tool, and subsequent damage to the work piece, is eliminated with this current invention.
Rotary cutting wheels and rotary saw blades have a limitation in that the depth of any cut cannot exceed their radius due to the interfering axial drive. Unlike rotary cutting wheels and rotary saw blades that have parts above or below the plane of the wheel, my hand-held, reciprocating attachment, with its reciprocating cutting tool being on the assembly""s extremity with no interfering pieces, allows deep, perpendicular cuts, as well as cuts at any angle, in cramped spaces.
My hand-held, reciprocating attachment is also capable of being used as an engraver. By installing the proper hardened point tool the variable-speed, variable-stroke reciprocating attachment accommodates finely controlled engraving.
My hand-held, reciprocating attachment is comprising of a minimum of pieces. Accordingly, my hand-held, reciprocating attachment is very reliable. My hand-held, reciprocating attachment eliminates the need for gears, springs, elastic members, and clips, thereby saving cost and complexity and improving overall reliability. Not using springs in my hand-held reciprocating attachment allows for improved frequency response at the higher reciprocating frequencies. No use of gears allows for improved wear by eliminating more wear surfaces and minimizing potential mechanical problems. Using tool holder/collets instead of clips results in improved, more positive holding force for the cutting tools and accommodates both flat and round cutting tools allowing a wide array of tool selection.
Other objects and advantages are illustrated as follows. Using razor knives, wood carving blades, saw blades, gouges, chisels, files and sanding paddles mounted in handles for holding in one""s hand without the aid of mechanical power, in other words, manual tools, is very common in both professional and hobby-related model building, all types of arts and crafts, and in all types of odd-jobs. The need to place excessive pressure on a cutting edge for some applications is dangerous and can injure a user if the cutting edge slips, and can also be damaging to the work piece. Also excessive pressure on a cutting edge can reduce accuracy. Also, numerous strokes are quite often required, at the expense of time and energy, to cut through material or to remove a desired amount of material. This leads to user fatigue and loss of accuracy. The lesser the amount of force that is used in the operation, in the interest of improving safety and minimizing damage, the greater the number of strokes that are required to achieve the desired results. A greater number of strokes, again, leads to user fatigue and loss of accuracy.
My high-speed, hand-held reciprocating method for cutting, carving, sawing, chiseling, filing, sanding, and engraving of the subject invention imparts a very high-speed reciprocating motion to a cutting or carving blade, gouge, saw, chisel, file or sanding device. This in turn allows a user to apply a cutting edge accurately while using significantly reduced force thereby greatly reducing fatigue, improving delicate control, and reducing the chance of damage or injury to both the user and the work piece. A reduced force applied to the cutting tool, compensated for by a variable speed, up to a very high-speed, reciprocating motion, in concert with a very short but variable-length stroke, provides exceptional results.
My hand-held, reciprocating attachment is not a force-activated device and therefore accommodates a multiplicity of reciprocating cutting tools, not just chisel-like cutting tools. Since it is not a force-activated device, my hand-held, reciprocating attachment is very useful for delicate and highly detailed work because a force does not need to be applied before the cutting action starts. Since, my hand-held, reciprocating attachment does not require force-activation, it will function even with feather-light applied forces and will therefore not overwhelm delicate work pieces.
Variations of my hand-held, reciprocating attachment will allow attachment directly to a power rotary tool instead of to a flex rotor shaft for users so inclined.
Further objects and advantages of my hand-held, reciprocating attachment will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.